Josh Drebit as Two

Back to Berlin by Vern Thiessen;
Two by Alexander Ferguson
for Fear Some: three stories about what scares you
Solo Collective Theatre
Premiere

Lighting & Set design by Del Surjik
Sound design by Noah Drew
Special Properties construction by Yayah Studios
Stage Managed by Anne Taylor

Cast: Scott Bellis, Josh Drebit

Photos by Aaron Bushkowsky

"Satisfying from start to finish, Fear Some is a top-notch trio of one-act plays."
- Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun

Trio of Monologues Frightfully Good
"Nothing to fear here. This trio of monologues about what scares you is among this season's most scintillating evenings. ...Be afraid of missing it."
- Jo Ledingham, The Courier
"Alexander Ferguson's Two is a magical fable told by a child. Josh Drebit pours out the soul of a bouncy boy whose papa, mama and beloved big brother have all vanished. ... Johnna Wright rightly directs Drebit lightly, letting the young actor open himself wholly to the gigantic world within a little boy's fears. ...Best Moment: Josh Drebit's young character takes his time-out in a backyard rocket ship."
- Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun

"[In Back to Berlin,] Scott Bellis is fantastic. He transforms so subtly and so completely from patriarch to offspring and back again that it's like watching a kind of spiritual possession. ...The tenderness that emerges is moving partly because it emerges from such prickly masculinity."
- Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"It's a joy to see Scott Bellis sans large cast, sans fancy set, sans fabulous costumes. Bellis is phenomenal.... Directed by Johnna Wright, Back to Berlin reminds us that our stories are not only about wars won and lost but also of love and forgiveness."
- Jo Ledingham, The Courier

 Scott Bellis as the Son (left) and the Father (right)

Killjoy by David Mackay
for A Christmas 3
Solo Collective Theatre
Premiere

Lighting & Set Design by Del Surjik
Sound Design by David Hudgins
Stage Managed by Caryn Fehr

Cast: Lois Anderson

Jessie Richardson Award Nominations: Outstanding Director,
Outstanding Production (A Christmas 3),
Outstanding Original Script
Jessie Award: Lois Anderson,
Outstanding Leading Actress

Photo by Aaron Bushkowsky

Lois Anderson as Angelica

"Killjoy is the Dark Jewel of Solo Trio"
"[David] Mackay's monologue Killjoy is the best of the three solo scripts on display in this evening of one-acts... Lois Anderson is phenomenal as Angelica. ...It's exhilarating to see an actor perform with such freedom."
- Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"Christmas Trilogy Great Holiday Escape"
"... Anderson's conviction and the warmth within her crackpot character carve out a memorable madwoman."
- Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun

"In Killjoy, under Johnna Wright's direction, [Lois Anderson] is perfect as Angelica, a diamond-in-the-rough kind of girl who gets picked up by a "university boy."
- Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier
Sarah Susut cusp by Dawn Petten
for A Three Way
Solo Collective Theatre
Premiere

Lighting & Set Design by Shaun August
Sound Design by John McCullough
Stage Managed by Lesley Humphries

Cast: Sarah Susut

Photo by Shaun August

Brown Wasp by Meah Martin
for Three By Three
Solo Collective Theatre
Premiere

Lighting & Set Design by Del Surjik
Sound Design by John McCullough
Stage Managed by Caryn Fehr

Cast: Wendy Noel

Photo by Aaron Bushkowsky

 

"Brown Wasp is the best of the bunch... [Wendy Noel] peels the character's skin back, revealing a laughing, weeping heart."
- Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"Last on the bill but best of the bunch, Meah Martin's Brown Wasp is a strong script about a Vancouver woman battling breast cancer at a Saskatchewan spa. The playwright's sharp sense of the woman's turmoil is emphasized in Wendy Noel's performance, as director Johnna Wright helps Noel hone the mood swings carrying her warm and funny character all over the emotional map."
- Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun

Wendy Noel

  

Uncle Exile by Shawn Macdonald
for Two by Two
Solo Collective Theatre
Premiere

Lighting & Set design by Del Surjik
Live Sound by Bruce Turpin

Cast: Shawn Macdonald

"Festival House Debut TWO FINE"
"[Shawn Macdonald]'s ability to switch moods on a dime is aided by precise lighting shifts and an 'urban beat' soundscape created live by Bruce Turpin. The result is marvellously moody, and made all the more invigorating by director Johnna Wright's use of the venue's wall of windows to display the enormous arch of the Granville Bridge as a backdrop for Uncle Exile's wanderings by a young man adrift."
- Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun

"Two Transcends"
"[Shawn] Macdonald began working on Uncle Exile when he moved to Vancouver. Directed by Johnna Wright, this play is so raw and revealing that you wish you had been there to cheer him up. ...honest and intimacy saturate the work. It's a rare and lovely glimpse into the usually hilarious Shawn Macdonald. ... Poetic, sincere and with the perfect amount of levity, Uncle Exile and The Promised Land... celebrate the resilience of all those who leave home."
- Jo Ledingham, The Courier